


Practical Solution

by spinninginfinity



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-22 10:14:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7432214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spinninginfinity/pseuds/spinninginfinity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A routine trip to the Alliance's soon-to-be base goes slightly awry.</p>
<p>
  <i>‘If we’re going to be here for a while, we should huddle closer together.’</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Practical Solution

**Author's Note:**

> Written, belatedly, for day four of [Han & Leia Appreciation Week](http://han-leia-solo.tumblr.com/post/145959328129/han-leia-appreciation-week) for the prompt "Hoth".

It is, of course, Han’s fault, and he, of course, denies it.

‘I should have known better than to bring you along for this,’ Leia mutters.

‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’ he asks.

‘It means that this mission—not even a mission, in fact—was so easy I hadn’t even considered ways in which it might go wrong,’ she snaps, ‘and yet here we are.’

It’s taken two standard years, but Echo Base is nearing completion. It’s got a functional med bay and command center now, and with the abundance of ice available to them they’ve even, in theory, got water showers. There’s still some work to do, but there’s a chance they could be in by the end of the month.

‘Freezing, though,’ was Han’s input, when he first set foot in the place.

‘You’re so insightful,’ Leia had replied.

She’d asked for a pilot to come and check out the final plans for the secondary hangar bay, a last-minute addition that’s mainly, if she’s honest, for the benefit of Han and the few others like him, who don’t need space full-time in the main hangar. He had offered his services before anyone else could, and Leia had decided she could tolerate him for a couple of hours.

It’s going to be more than a couple of hours.

‘How was I meant to know the door would lock if it slid shut?’ Han asks her now.

‘All the doors lock automatically,’ Leia says, not ceasing her restless pacing of the hangar floor. ‘If hostiles ever get into the base it will slow them down; it’s an obvious security feature.’

‘Well, I didn’t know that.’

‘Well, if you’d paid more attention in the briefing where we explicitly discussed it—’

‘Okay!’ Han says loudly. ‘So why don’t you just key in the access code and get us out of here?’

She turns to face him. ‘Oh, what a good solution! I’m so glad you’re here.’

‘I’m just asking—’

‘This bay isn’t usable, currently, so we’ve had no need to set up that keypad yet,’ Leia explains, nodding at the useless thing on the wall. Han has no reason to know this, so she tries to keep the irritation in her voice to a minimum, with little success. ‘They’ll have to open the door from the other side.’

‘Then I guess we’re stuck in here.’

She spreads her hands, resigned. ‘It certainly seems that way.’

Han is silent for a moment. ‘Dodonna’s in first thing in the morning?’

‘That’s the plan,’ Leia says. ‘Let’s hope they don’t change it.’

‘Could be they’ll think we’ve run into trouble and come after us earlier than that,’ he suggests.

‘We have run into trouble.’

‘Real trouble,’ he clarifies.

Leia sits down, pulling her hood up so that she can tilt her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. ‘Could be.’ More to herself, she mutters, ‘Gods, I hope they don’t assume the worst when they can’t get us on the comm.’

Because of course she’d managed to leave her comlink on the other side of the door.

Han sits next to her, long legs stretching out in front of him, and nudges her. ‘You gotta stop being so pessimistic, sweetheart. Everything’ll be just fine.’

Leia makes a non-committal sound.

‘So,’ Han says. ‘How should we pass the time?’

She turns her head toward him, cracking one eye open, and warns, ‘If you think this is a good moment to make a lewd comment, let me assure you that your audience would not be receptive.’

‘I wasn’t going to!’

‘Good,’ she says.

‘Too cold for that, anyhow.’

She smiles and elbows him lightly in the ribs. 

They sit in silence for a few moments. She dithers and then voices what she’s thinking out loud—there’s no sense in ignoring an obvious, practical solution to the problem at hand and endangering their lives because she’s embarrassed, after all. ‘If we’re going to be here for a while, we should huddle closer together.’

‘No arguments from me,’ he says, and shifts to pull her against him. She rolls her eyes but tucks an arm over his waist, resting her head against his chest. ‘This all right?’ he asks her.

‘Mm.’ She nods against him. ‘Yes, this is just fine.’

‘You know, we can do it any time,’ Han says. ‘Doesn’t have to be cold.’

He makes it sound as though he’s teasing her. She’s starting to know better.

She clears her throat and asks, ‘Is the space big enough?’

‘Hmm?’

‘The hangar. For the _Falcon_.’

‘Yeah.’ He gives her a gentle squeeze. ‘Though I’d have a clearer idea if you’d’ve just let me land it in here.’

She lifts her head from his chest and looks up at him. ‘I told you, it’s not safe for that yet.’

‘And I told you, I could’ve made it work. Would’ve made this situation better, at least.’

‘Assuming you didn’t kill us going in, of course.’

He smiles, squeezing her again, and says, ‘Never killed us before, have I?’

‘Hm. True.’

His face is very close to hers, and she has to look away, head coming to rest against him again. But, perhaps because it’s so chilly, she finds herself tightening her arms around him.

‘I’m sorry for getting angry with you,’ she says softly.

‘Which time?’ he quips.

‘Oh, hush and let me apologize to you properly,’ she tells him, prodding him in the chest. ‘I should have mentioned about the door. It wasn’t your fault.’

‘Well, I think that’s mighty big of you to admit, Princess.’

She can hear the smirk in his voice. ‘Don’t make me take it back,’ she warns.

‘You’re not having it back,’ he says. ‘It’s mine; I’m keeping it. I want it in writing and I’m gonna frame it and hang it on my wall.’

‘I’ve seen your flying. It wouldn’t stay on your wall,’ she retorts.

‘Huh,’ he says. ‘Guess I’ll figure something out.’

They lapse into comfortable silence again.

‘You really couldn’t have picked a warmer place?’ he asks, after a while.

‘Our options were somewhat limited,’ she reminds him. Truthfully, there had been more than a bit of grousing about the harsh climate of their new base’s location among the members of High Command, but she’d never tell him that.

‘We’ll be damn near frozen by the time they find us.’

‘Oh, don’t be ridiculous,’ she sighs. ‘It isn’t that dire.’

‘Huh,’ he says. ‘Well, we’ll see.’

‘You know, if one of us does get hypothermia, it might be necessary to undress and cuddle together to warm up again,’ she says mildly.

‘ _What_?’

She grins up at him. ‘I can make jokes too, you know.’

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Feedback welcome and appreciated!


End file.
